Sometimes a small joke takes on a life of its own.
What began as a quick idea for a funny little video turned into an unexpected creative experiment — one that took me deep into the world of AI music, avatars, and digital filmmaking.
How It Started
Every December, I tour with cabaret artist Maikel Harte.
We’ve been doing his theatre shows for about eighteen years now, and every year he tries — with what I’d call gentle persistence — to make me bring the accordion.
And every year, I try to escape.
This time, instead of running from the joke, I decided to lean into it.
It started as a short Dutch clip about a Hammond player who’s once again forced to face the squeezebox.
But once I started experimenting with AI tools… things got out of hand.
The Process
I used Suno AI to create the songs, Logic Pro to separate stems for syncing, and HeyGen for my AI avatar — which, to my surprise, can now even lip-sync to uploaded music.
For the cinematic footage, I worked inside Google’s experimental AI environment (based on VEO), and I have to admit: the Hammond actually looks pretty good in some shots — something AI has almost never managed before.
Everything came together in Final Cut Pro, and somehow I ended up with a short film that feels part documentary, part parody, and part surreal AI daydream.
Why I Love This Kind of Experiment
I’ve been a musician long enough to know that creativity can take many forms.
Sometimes it’s on stage, sometimes in the studio, and sometimes it appears through a prompt.
Exploring what AI can do doesn’t replace the real thing — it just opens new doors, and occasionally, it makes you laugh at the absurdity of it all.
Credits & Tools
Music by Suno AI
Stem work in Logic Pro
Avatar & lipsync by HeyGen
Cinematic visuals by Google AI Experiments (VEO environment)
Editing in Final Cut Pro
Concept, prompts & direction: Frank Montis
Emotional support & wordsmithing: ChatGPT (Leslie)
Final Thought
AI still can’t swing — but apparently, it can make a Hammond look pretty good.
And for me, that’s reason enough to keep experimenting.
